Learning from Thailand the way they learned from us

Too many activities tonight. There’s cocktails onboard the visiting USS Blue Ridge hosted by United States Ambassador Kristie Kenney with Vice Admiral Douglas Crowder. And then there’s the State Dinner in Malacañang for Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej – which makes it difficult to be in two places at one time. At any rate, the State Dinner is definitely an important occasion in making our ties with Thailand tighter especially now when the world is facing a major food and rice crisis.

Thailand has now become a major exporter of a wide variety of food and agricultural products, among them corn, cassava, seafood, poultry, pineapple. Today, they are one of the top rice exporters in the world – and the irony of it all is that they learned from us when they came to the Philippines during the early ’80s to study our innovative rice production methods at the International Rice Research Institute in Laguna. Now it’s time for us to learn from them.

No doubt Thailand is miles ahead of the Philippines in so many things. For one, the steady expansion of their agricultural sector accounts for much of the impressive economic growth of Thailand starting in the ’70s and early ’80s, with large tracts of land made available for farming. Agriculture accounted for 25 percent of their GDP in the ’80s, with the agriculture industry providing employment for 75 percent of the labor force.

While the king traditionally owned all the land in Thailand and thus could give them away to officials and other people, any land left uncultivated for three years could be reverted to the crown. Although they also had some trouble regarding ownership with landless farmers establishing informal rights to land they had cleared and cultivated for a number of years, land reforms and titling procedures plus the establishment of the Agricultural Land Reform Act in 1975, eventually paved the way for landless and tenant  farmers to acquire land of their own.

Despite strong opposition from large landowners, the act allowed farmers to buy as much as eight hectares of land from private owners, from forest lands and those owned by the crown, to be paid on a long-term instalment basis. What also contributed to the success of the program – in spite of the political turmoil brought about by a number of coups – is the fact that the Thai government gave additional support to farmers through infrastructure and credit. Over the years, they have continuously supported agricultural research and used innovations in technology to develop a vigorous agricultural industry.

Perhaps one very significant policy that greatly contributed to the economic progress Thailand enjoys today is their implementation of a concrete population management program. In the early ’70s, the Thai government introduced a revolutionary national family planning program where public health officials toured towns and villages to promote family planning and distribute contraceptives to villagers. Volunteers were trained to disseminate information and teachers were trained on issues such as population growth, family planning and contraception. The information was then passed on to the parents, who in turn were taught basic concepts of family planning.

Of course, the successful population management program of Thailand is largely credited to Mechai Viravaidya, Thailand’s “Condom King” whose radical approach included the use of cartoons and the holding of balloon blowing contests using condoms and teaching children his “condom song” that goes, “Too many children make you poor.” Along with some partners, he also put up a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms – based on the reasoning that condoms should be made as freely available as the vegetable. At the restaurant, customers are given condoms instead of mints after a meal.

Experts all over the world agree that Thailand’s successful implementation of a population management program has “achieved wonders” where other Asian nations like the Philippines have failed. In a 1996 interview, Mechai said the Philippines and Thailand had the same population in 1972, “but whereas the Philippines now has a population of 72 million, Thailand’s today is only 59 million.” Whether we like it or not, 13 million more hungry mouths to feed did make a difference.

Today, we see a vast contrast between our two countries. Thailand’s population is estimated at 66 million, while the Philippines has ballooned to approximately 90 million people. As a major rice and food exporter, Thailand has the opportunity to help alleviate the global food crisis – and the Thai government plans to respond by making expanded food production become a national agenda. On the other hand, the Philippines continues to be a rice importer and is one of the countries most vulnerable to food shocks.

The Philippines still has the opportunity to develop its agricultural sector and achieve rice and food sufficiency in the near future. We can now learn from Thailand’s example – just as they learned from us.

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Speaking of agriculture, the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) will hold its Farmers’ Night tomorrow at the Grand Ballroom of the InterContinen-tal Hotel in Makati with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap as guest speaker. With the theme “Food Self Sufficiency,” Sec. Yap is expected to discuss the government’s plans to address a looming food crisis as well as other controversial issues regarding the agriculture and fishery sector.

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